Sacramento law enforcement and fire on guard against coronavirus. What it means for you

While life is drastically changing for millions of Californians who are adjusting to life in home isolation, life is still “business as usual” for many Sacramento-area law enforcement agencies and fire departments.

So far, staffing for law enforcement officers and firefighters has been unaffected by the new coronavirus, with emergency responders continuing to provide the same level of service to people in need, agencies told The Sacramento Bee in interviews Monday and Tuesday.

In other parts of California, such as Modesto, agencies are instructing their officers to ask to speak to people outside their homes when responding to calls, allowing for more distance so officers don’t get sick.

Those same measures have not been instituted in the capital region, and the agencies said they have already put many social distancing tactics into practice as part of their daily jobs.

“Since we’re first responders and we respond to everybody, I think peace officers are very cognizant of these sorts of things all year round because we go into situations where we can be exposed to all sorts of things,” said Sgt. Rodney Grassman of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

Protective equipment

Grassman said deputies already carry protective equipment in their patrol packs for emergency situations, but have added more personal protective gear, such as masks, in the event they come in contact with someone who may have have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 or is symptomatic.

Deputies and officers are already trained to keep their distance in the academy for safety reasons, Grassman added, making them well-attuned to the current situation.

Police academies remain in session with the added precaution of more sanitizing and cleaning, and rearranging classrooms to allow for more social distancing, said Sacramento Police Department spokesman Officer Karl Chan.

“As with everything concerning this virus, as things change day to day we will reevaluate policies and procedures as needed,” he said in an email to The Bee.

Roseville Police Department — in Placer County where California had its first COVID-19 death — has a “heightened awareness of the virus,” but has no operational changes planned, said Rob Baquera, spokesman for the department.

“We have pre-set mitigation plans just as we would have in any operational anomaly,” he said. “We’re well aware of how we would continue to operate as an agency, but as this time none of those triggers have come into play and we are continuing business as usual.”

Placerville Police Department, however, is the first agency in the region to announce Tuesday it would be modifying its response to non-emergency calls “on a case by case basis.”

“If the details of the call reveal that an officer can appropriately handle the incident via a telephone call, the dispatcher will advise the reporting party and an officer will make contact over the phone,” the department said in a news release.

Firefighters and paramedics

For firefighters, who are often on the front lines when responding to medical calls, some are already experiencing the effects of the pandemic locally.

Three Rocklin firefighters were quarantined for 14 days after they responded to a medical emergency for a coronavirus patient who later died. They were later cleared and returned to duty.

In the Bay Area, eight Alameda firefighters were quarantined after they came in contact with a firefighter who later tested positive for coronavirus, the East Bay Times reported.

According to spokesman Capt. Chris Vestal, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District said they’ve added masks, gowns and gloves to its crews’ personal protective equipment (PPE) but are so far largely unaffected by the community spread of coronavirus.

People calling 911 are now being screened by dispatchers for signs of COVID-19, Vestal said, and people should be prepared to be evaluated a second time when firefighters arrive at their door.

“We’ll do an initial assessment at a distance, but obviously we can’t maintain that distance the whole time,” he said.

In the event firefighters become sick, Vestal said the plan is to “backfill personnel,” meaning they’d call on other firefighters to fill open shifts to maintain service levels for Metro Fire’s service area.

But for now, those measures have not taken effect.

This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.